NAME

       nettoe - Networked version of Tic Tac Toe for the console.

SYNOPSIS

       nettoe [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION

       netToe  is  a  console-based  version  of  the classic game "Tic Tac Toe".  It is playable
       against computer AI, against a player on the same machine, or against another player  over
       the network.

OPTIONS

       -4, --ipv4
              only IPv4 networking

       -6, --ipv6
              only IPv6 networking

       -nc, --no-colors
              disable colors

       -nb, --no-beep
              disable beeps

       -h, --help
              display usage hints, then exit

       -v, --version
              output version information, then exit

HOW TO PLAY VIA NETWORK

       First  decide  who will host the game: you or your opponent.  The hosting player must next
       do the following.

       *   Start nettoe.

       *   Pick the third option (Two players over network) of the Main Menu.

       *   Choose the first option (Host the Game) at the Network Game Menu.

       *   Type name, or nickname.

       *   Communicate the IP address to the other player.  Hostnames work,  if  registered.   We
           hope you know how to get your own IP address.

       *   Wait for the other player to connect to your host.

       Now the other player, the one connecting to the game server, must:

       o   Start nettoe.

       o   Pick the third option (Two players over network) of the Main Menu.

       o   Use the second option (Connect to a host) at the Network Game Menu.

       o   Type name, or nickname.

       o   Type the IP address of the server host, or its hostname.  Examples include 192.168.0.5
           and ::1, or fenrir.foe.org and localhost.

       o   Wait for the game to start.

       Enjoy yourselves. If you have any problem, just let us know.

NETWORK PORTS

       netToe uses TCP port 7501 as listening  port  of  the  server  engine,  unless  configured
       otherwise during build time.  Use "nettoe -v" to display the configured port.

       That port must therefore be usable as destination port over the network.  Otherwise remote
       games would not be possible.  For a local game this is of course  mostly  irrelevant,  but
       filtering firewalls might intercept connections in general.

USING THE AI MODES

       netToe  offers a mode of play where the computer acts as opponent with some limited built-
       in abilities to simulate  dynamic  decisions.   Three  levels  of  AI  strength  are  made
       available:

       *   The  weaker level first checks a small set of blocking moves, then some winning moves,
           and falls back to simple moves in a  fixed  priority  order.   Since  neither  set  is
           adaptive, the computer is easily fooled.

       *   The  normal  level  uses  slightly  larger  sets  of  moves  at each step, but is most
           importantly playing more aggressively than the weaker level does.  It happens  in  the
           sense  that  initial checks are for winning moves, only later falling back to blocking
           moves.  This avoids some obvious counterfeit strategy by a human player.

       *   The better of the three levels is implemented differently.  Its  first  action  is  to
           scan  a  complete  set  of  winning moves.  That leading nowhere, it scans through all
           possible blocking moves, and finally falls back to an ordered list  of  simple  moves.
           Since not even this level of play is using a look-ahead search, a human player can set
           up traps, but finding those already demands a fair amount of insight into the game!

       There are plans for a further level using a look-ahead search of depth  two.   This  would
       improve  the  usefulness  of  netToe  as  an  educational tool.  A further level, which is
       learning from past plays within each session, could also be an interesting enhancement.

AVAILABILITY

       The latest version of this program can be found at

           http://nettoe.sourceforge.net/

BUGS

       Report bugs to <meand@users.sourceforge.net>.  For a list of known bugs, see the BUGS file
       in the netToe source package.

AUTHOR

       netToe  is  written  by  Gabriele Giorgetti <ggdev@users.sourceforge.net> and by Mats Erik
       Andersson <meand@users.sourceforge.net>.

       This manual page was initially written by Andras Bali <bali@debian.org>,  for  the  Debian
       GNU/Linux  system,  and was later rewritten by Gabriele Giorgetti to be distributed in the
       netToe source package.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2000,2001 Gabriele Giorgetti,
                 © 2001 Andras Bali,
                 © 2012,2013,2014 Mats Erik Andersson.

       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO  warranty;  not
       even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.